Empyrean Quest Publishers

Knightsen CA

Copyright © 1996 by Narada Moy

All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Toward A New Scientific Astrology

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION: A Bold New Look At Astrology

I. MORE TRADITIONAL TOPICS

1. Prenatal Cycles in Astrology

2. Astrological Keys to the Treasure House of Your Supply

3. Astrology: A Key To Your Health

Health and the Natal Chart

The South Nodal or Body Chart

Transits, Progressions, and Solar Return

4. The Six Basic Astrological Games

5. Pluto

II. LESS TRADITIONAL TOPICS

6. Righting the Axis of Your Identity

7. Your Ancient Astrological History

The Cycle of the Galactic Center

The Cycle of the Supergalactic Center

The Midpoint Cycle

Ancient History and Your Chart

8. The Winding and Unwinding of This Mortal Coil

Significance of Retrograde Planets

9. Power Planets: Harbingers of Success

III. NEW ASTROLOGICAL TECHNIQUES

10. Superprogressions: The Resolution of the Twin Problem

11. Astrological Rebirth

12. Your Cycle For Individual Success:

Planetary Syntax

Horoscope and Cycloscope

13. A New Scientific House System

IV. ESSAYS

14. A Possible Scientific Explanation of Astrology 15. Unveiling Time

Francis Bacon and the Great Pyramid

The Historical Coverup

16. Astronomy and the Unknown

Perspectives on the Universe

Ending At The Beginning

INTRODUCTION

A Bold New Look At Astrology

The development of Astrology has been by no means systematic or subject to the rigors of the Scientific Method proposed by Francis Bacon. The subject has grown mostly through folklore passed on from one astrologer to another. Insights gained in an intuitive fashion have been codified, and for the most part remain scientifically unverified. This in no way invalidates the conclusions, but it does not validate them either.

Until Percy Seymour published his book, Astrology: The Evidence of Science in 1988, no one dared give an explanation as to why astrology works, from a scientific point of view. The evidence he gives that magnetic resonance may be responsible for planets and people being intimately connected is telling, but it is only a beginning.

The final link in the chain has not been forged. It is not yet clear how fluctuations in the magnetic field of the earth feed energy into the neuronal structure of the brain to influence behavior and perception. This final link, I believe, has to do with quantum theory and the nature of the brain. Dr. P. Stephen Petersen begins to explore this in his work, The Quantum Tai Chi: The Dance of Mind Over Matter.

In addition, Astrology has no convincing unifying structure. Although Zipporah Dobyns proposes that the code of astrology is a 12 letter alphabet, relating to the twelve signs, their rulers, and houses; the rest of astrology is a hodge-podge of tacked on subjects with no simple vision. For example, where does the Zodiac start? Traditional astrology places Aries as the ruler of the 1st house. However, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini are mental in character. Do cycles start with the mind? What about the spirit: Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces? If one considers conception as the start, perhaps the beginning should be in the sign of Cancer.

The important unifying concept for Astrology I believe is related the maxim of Hermes Trismegistus: "As above so below". This means that all cycles mirror one another. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each of 12 phases in this universal cycle may be related to the 12 signs of the zodiac. Where to begin is discussed later in the book.

Robert Hand, an astrologer of great accomplishment, has pointed out that Astrology has four steps it must take to reach maturity as a science:

1. Define itself.

2. Create an institutional base.

3. Verify scientifically that its techniques are valid,

(and reject those that are not, I might add).

4. Develop a theoretical framework.

It is to the final step that this book is devoted. However, it is essential to realize that untested ideas must not be rejected because they are unusual or counterintuitive, but that they must be put to the tests of experience.

Some of the ideas in this book relate to ideas already withstanding the test of time, others have been seen to be useful and valid by my own experience, and still others I propose as challenges to the existing order of Astrology. I am hoping that astrologers will be open minded enough to consider them, try them on for size, and test them rigorously, where possible.

1. PRENATAL CYCLES IN ASTROLOGY

Traditional astrology assigns the moment of conception to the first point of Cancer, or the 6 o'clock line of the Cosmic Clock (Cancer--Capricorn is the first). There are several reasons why this is makes sense.

First, the sign of Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and the lunar cycle (from new Moon to new Moon--about 28 days) is mirrored in the ovulation cycle of a woman. That is, the cycles are of the same length, and have the same structure or stages. If we place the Now Moon phase at the onset of menstruation, the Full Moon phase will occur at ovulation. In this regard it is significant that ovulation and conception, which occur more or less at the same time, are more likely to occur around the time of the full Moon than at any other time.*

Second, in the Cosmic Clock, the Cancer line is the meeting of the Alpha Father current with the Omega Mother return. Astronomically speaking, the moon's face is fully illuminated by the light of the sun once a month when the Sun and Moon are in alignment on either side of the Earth. Thus, like the meeting of Father and Mother, the maximum light of the Father Sun is reflected to the Earth by the Mother Moon at full Moon. This is the stage of the lunar cycle corresponding to conception in the menstrual cycle. Thus in the lunation cycle, the full Moon on the Cosmic Clock could be said to be ruled by Cancer as well, although this is not the usual assignment.

*Sheldon H. Cherry, M.D., Understanding Pregnancy and Childbirth

Third, as Maria Montessori points out in The Absorbent Mind, "Man seems to have two embryonic periods. One is prenatal, like that of the animals. The other is postnatal and only man has this." She is suggesting that there is a period of duration nine months after birth in which the spiritual nature of a child is brought out by interaction with his/her environment. Since conception in Cancer implies birth nine months later in Aries, this postnatal gestation takes the child back to Capricorn, the twelve o'clock line of the Cosmic Clock at nine months of age.

This cycle is, of course, distinct from the cycle that starts at Capricorn at birth, and suggests that the soul may, under normal circumstances, begin its descent into matter 6 months prior to conception when the prenatal cycle was at the 12 o'clock line. This identification allows for two complete cycles of the Cosmic Clock to be completed by age nine months, and suggests that the embodying soul may have its cycle of the soul's descent into matter disrupted as much as 6 months before conception. Take, for example, the breakup of a couple intended to have a child at the end of the 6 month period. Such an event may cause the soul grief as it must stop its pre-conception preparations, and find a new time to begin another cycle of descent.

The identification of the sign of Cancer with conception begins the "solar cycle" of the Father since the Sun moves through one sign per month. Although this solar cycle of one month per sign has some significance in prenatal development it is the "lunar" cycle of the Mother begun at the onset of the mother's menstrual period that signals the appearance of major physical change in the embryo, as we shall see. This cycle begins at menstruation 14 days before ovulation and consequent conception, and is thus displaced about one-half month from the solar cycle.

Thus, one lunar month has elapsed when the solar cycle reaches the 6:30 line of the Cosmic Clock, two lunar months at the 7:30 line, three at the 8:30 line, four at the 9:30 line, five at the 10:30 line and six at the 11:30 line. At the 11:30 line, the physical features are complete. The last five points on the Cosmic Clock correspond to the five Secret Rays which manifest spiritually and physically in the sphere of the Mother, or the Womb.

These "lunar" stages in the development of the human embryo can thus be plotted on the Cosmic Clock:

Time Post-Conception: Line of the Clock: Features:

2 weeks 6:30--Initial cycle Placenta forms,

Cancer--nourisher mother nourishes

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6 weeks 7:30--Secret Ray 1 Heart gives own

Leo--heart, blood blood supply beats

at 2 x Mothers

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10 weeks 8:30--Secret Ray 2 Fingers and toes

Virgo--dealing with formed

physical objects

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14 weeks 9:30--3rd Secret Ray Breathing and movement Libra--Holy Spirit (slight kicking)

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18 weeks 10:30--4th Secret Ray Facial features

Scorpio--Visual complete

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22 weeks 11:30--5th Secret Ray Lungs fully formed,

shiny red appearance

It is thus seen that the cycles of the Father and the Mother interweave like a braid to produce the developing child in the womb. The Father gives the matrix, and the Mother the timing.

As to the vital question of the day: when does life begin? LIFE magazine photographer Lennart Nilsson, who has photographed these stages has said., "I cannot tell you. If I told you only ten days, or two days, or forty days, it would be wrong. It would. Look at the pictures... Maybe the first moment of human life, it starts with a kiss." Certainly the contemplation of such a wonderful cycle must give those thinking of aborting it, pause.

.

2.

ASTROLOGICAL KEYS TO THE TREASURE HOUSE

OF YOUR SUPPLY

Just as there are treasure maps to lost chests of gold and gems, so also it is possible to follow the signposts of your astrology to magnetize more of the abundance you need. Our treasure map starts with an arrow pointing to the door of the 2nd house, with the inscription written alongside, "knock and it shall be opened unto you". Be sure to write down the clues that you find at each of the seven stations on the way to the unlimited treasure. This will be helpful in the alchemy of self transformation necessary for removing the blocks to your supply.

1. As the natural ruler of the first house is Aries, the natural ruler by sign of the second house is Taurus. To open its door we must master every planet in that sign. In some cases, it is the lack of love manifested as rebellion that prevents us from getting started on the road to abundance. Look for planets in your natal chart in Taurus, and write down each planet and all of its aspects, including degree, house, and sign of all aspecting planets, making a prayer for the clearing of everything you know about these aspects as they relate to your personal finances. Square aspects (about 90 degrees apart) and opposition aspects (180 degrees apart) are particularly important.

For example, if you have your Moon in Taurus in the eighth house and it is square to your Mars in Aquarius in the 5th, you could make a call for the transmutation of all childhood records of rebellion, all records of verbal abuse of the child, all records of male, female arguments over romance, sex, and money, and all other blocks to supply indicated by the aspect. Further indications can be found in the discussion of individual aspects in beginning astrology books. These types of records can even prevent us from starting a money-making enterprise.

Aspects like trines (120 degrees apart) and sextiles (60 degrees apart) represent attainment and opportunities which must be utilized to bring in abundance. Such 'soft' aspects to planets in Taurus can even tell us how to begin manifesting necessary supply.

If a planet in Taurus makes no aspects, one way we can extract its meaning is to consider it to be in a conjunction (about 0 degrees apart) to the ruler of its sign which is Venus. Thus an unaspected Saturn in Taurus may be represented by Saturn conjunction Venus, an aspect you can look up in an Astrology book.

2. If you have no planets in Taurus, write down the ruler of Taurus, which is Venus, and all of its aspects in your chart (degree, house, and sign), and clear them with supply in mind. If Venus forms no aspects, again you can consider it conjunct to the ruler of the sign it is in. For example, Venus in Pisces is then considered Venus conjunct Neptune (the ruler of Pisces). A list of signs and their rulers is given at the end of this article. This should be done even if you do have planets in Taurus, as Venus is the 'creative' key to our supply. With these two steps in hand, you have the key to open the door to your 2nd house, which can be converted into a private vault for the treasure that is rightfully yours.

3. You may find the 2nd house is empty. Don't be disheartened: on the far wall is an inscription which everyone has and is the clue to the next step in our imaginary treasure map. It is the sign on the cusp of your 2nd house. On your natal chart wheel, this is the sign--usually written outside the wheel--at the division of the 1st and 2nd houses. Any planets in that sign, or the ruler of that sign (see table at the end of this article) are keys to how you may 'fill the house with abundance'. For example, if you have Cancer on the cusp, look for planets in Cancer, or the Moon (which rules Cancer), and work with aspects of these planets. Use the same method we used with Venus in step two, if any of these planets makes no aspects. Consider all aspects of those planets. Don't forget to include degree, sign, house, and meaning in your calls.

4. If there are planets in your second house, the energy held in any squares and oppositions to them can be released by your calls. Mars, for example, can be transformed from the fierce and restless god of war to become the rising Mother flame, which is the very essence of abundance itself. Trines and sextiles must also be taken advantage of, to fully manifest supply.

5. Jupiter, being the planet of expansion, benevolence, and spiritual abundance, is the key to amplifying the treasures we already have. The concept of the tithe is related to this planetary energy, and is vital to assure a flow from above. When we have found the house in which Jupiter resides, we can make calls on the aspects made by the planet, paying appropriate attention to detail. This plays a part in freeing us to seek new means of amplifying abundance for the benefit of all.

6. Though we have found the house in which Jupiter dwells, we pay attention to the houses that Jupiter rules: that is, the ninth house, and the house, if there is one, where Saggitarius is on the cusp. These houses, their significance, and the planets that dwell in them and their aspects, give us clues as to the employment we may find which will best magnetize great abundance. For example, with Saturn conjunct Uranus in the 9th house in Gemini, a theoretical scientific bent may be turned to advantage. With Mercury unaspected in the 4th house and Saggitarius on the cusp, one could work as a consultant in such a field from the home.

7. The seventh and final key is the key of a positive mental attitude. One step to its achievement is to clear all afflictions to the planet Mercury in your chart, amplifying all positive aspects. For an unaspected Mercury, assume it conjunct to the ruler of the sign it is in. With 'easy' aspects, there is no room for resting on our laurels. The danger of trines, sextiles, and some conjunctions is that we will sit back in our attainment, and let our talents go to waste. We must strive to be positive, and positively strive.

To assist in clearing the blocks to your supply, and amplifying your particular talents, you could make all the calls suggested in the seven steps daily. To help figure out some of the steps, the signs of the Zodiac and their rulers are listed below:

SIGN: RULER:

Capricorn Saturn

Aquarius Uranus

Pisces Neptune

Aries Mars

Taurus Venus

Gemini Mercury

Cancer Moon

Leo Sun

Virgo Mercury

Libra Venus

Scorpio Pluto

Saggitarius Jupiter

3. ASTROLOGY: A KEY TO YOUR HEALTH

How can a person get a sense of their overall state of health from their astrology? An answer lies with three major tools that can assist in determining the location, causes, and interrelation of individual health concerns:

1) the Natal Chart, which gives the etheric matrix for your health strengths and vulnerabilities in this lifetime,

2) The South Nodal or Body Chart, which can give clues as to the specific location of these strengths and vulnerabilities, and

3) your current Transits, Progressions, and Solar Return, which provide a picture of the healing opportunities and stresses applied to your body (or four lower bodies) at a given time.

The following discussion gives an introductory description of how to use these three tools. When following these suggestions, be sure to look for repeated themes. They are the most likely to manifest.

Health and the Natal Chart

Your Natal Chart has coded in it possible health challenges and benefits which might appear at any time during your life, depending on transits, progressions, etc. The most important consideration is which planets are involved in Natal aspects. In health analysis, all the following aspects seem to be of almost equal importance in understanding a problem: oppositions ( )(180 ), conjunctions ( )(0 ), squares ( )(90 ), quincunxes ( )(150 ), and semisextiles ( )(30 ). Sextiles ( ) (60 ) and trines ( ) (120 ) may provide information on healing opportunities and techniques.

An aspect can be broken down into pairs of planets; and with a health concern, one planet in a pair usually relates to the location of the problem, and the other to the action on that organ or part of the body. One needs to take a holistic view of the chart to know which planet will represent the location, and which will represent the action at that location. If you know you have an underactive liver and you have, say, Neptune square Jupiter in your Natal Chart, in this case, Jupiter could represent the liver (it rules it) and Neptune the action. Neptune's action is to hide problems or cause toxicity of the organ in question, e.g., the liver.

For other planetary pairs in aspect consider the following rulerships and actions for individual planets:

Planet Locations Ruled by Planet Action

Sun Heart and Spinal Chord Regulation of Life force

Moon Stomach, Breasts, Diaphragm, Allergies, fluids,

Hypothalamus, Emotions Parasites

Mercury Lungs, Hands, Arms, Nerve force,

Intestines, Mental Body Communication

Venus Pancreas, Skin, Veins, Sensual, Thyroid, neck metabolic, chemical

Mars Adrenals, Head, Face, Infections, Spleen, and Blood injuries,

inflammations

Jupiter Liver, Gall Bladder, Hips, Overactivity

Thighs

Saturn Bones, Teeth, Brain, Knees, Underactivity, Pituitary deformation

Pituitary

Uranus Breath, Ankles, Calves, Intermittent Circulation, Central action, chi,

Nervous System lack of conscious or

unconscious control

Neptune Feet, Etheric Body Toxicity, lack of tone

Pluto Reproductive System, Colon, Genetic defects, Bladder cancer,

eruptions

The signs the Natal planets are in have a somewhat weaker effect than the planets themselves. The planets that rule the related signs may be found, and their location or action may be emphasized in the reading of your Natal Chart. (The planetary rulers of signs are given in most beginning astrology books.) In the aspect mentioned above, if Jupiter were in Aquarius, a subsidiary problem with the liver being toxic might be that the toxicity interrupts chi flow, as chi is related to Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius. This is just one possibility. It may also be that the liver toxicity affects the breath or nervous system, also ruled by Uranus.

Planets ruling the house cusps have an even less potent effect than the signs, except in the case of four key health houses: The 1st, 6th, 8th, and 12th.

The 1st house, its cusp (the Ascendant), and planets in it relate to your constitution or potential health concerns present from birth.

The 6th house may reveal possible accute conditions that could arise under stress, as well as giving clues to dietary habits. The 8th house gives clues for regeneration and healing. The 12th house gives information of the condition of the subconscious mind, and relates to chronic problems.

In addition, if planets make aspects to the 6th house cusp (Koch house system is best), their importance in determining the action or location represented by an aspecting planet is greatly heightened.

For those who are mathematically inclined, one way to think of the relative weighting of possible problems and areas is by mentally tallying up points for configurations in the natal chart. Record three points for a planet in difficult aspect, two for the planet ruling the sign it is in, and one for the planet ruling the cusp of the house it is in. Add two points if a planet aspects the 6th house cusp. You will then have a total number of points for each planet. The planets with the largest point totals may indicate the most likely problem areas or actions of the planets.

What you know about your body may influence your decision as to whether it is location or action the planet signifies. Further clues will be provided by the South Nodal Chart.

The South Nodal or Body Chart

Carl Jansky, a respected medical astrologer, pointed to the importance of the fact that the soul enters the embryo in the womb through the top of the head. The South Node ( ) in the Natal Chart indicates possible strengths, abilities, and karma we come into this lifetime with. In the South Nodal or Body chart, the body is placed with the head at the South Node. In this chart the South Node becomes the new Ascendant. The feet are located at the North Node, and the rest of the body in the houses in between. (See the Body Chart on the next page.) It is interesting that where our feet are pointing tells us where we are walking to, symbolizing our karmic destiny, and this is an interpretation of the North Node.

The house cusps of the Body Chart are easily determined. Just take the South Node sign and degree and put it on the Ascendant. Each successive house cusp is the same degree as the Ascendant, but progressed one sign of the Zodiac. The natal planets can then be placed between the appropriate house cusps. The sample chart is left blank for you to zerox and fill in your own Body Chart Cusps.

Planets in difficult aspects in your Natal Chart will then be in positions on the Body Chart indicative of locations of possible concerns. Location of the planet within the house is important also. Refer to the body chart for more details.

Houses 1 and 12: head, neck, and thyroid.

Houses 2 and 11: shoulders, arms, hands, lungs, heart, chest, and upper back.

Houses 3 and 10: liver, spleen, pancreas, stomach, adrenals, and midback. The kidneys occupy these two houses and the next.

Houses 4 and 9: intestines, colon, reproductive system, lower back.

Houses 5 and 8: hips, thighs, and knees.

Houses 6 and 7: calves, ankles, and feet.

Actions indicated in the Body Chart are sometimes reflected to the opposite side of the body. It is important to realize that the planet in the Body Chart indicates the action, while the location is determined by the house placement. For example, the Sun in the 1st house in the portion of the house corresponding to the thyroid can indicate a problem with the life force in that gland, particularly if the Sun is involved in a difficult aspect in the natal chart. Your health practitioner can examine possible problems in more depth and recommend solutions. Planets in the 6th or 8th houses in the Natal Chart can suggest healing techniques. Trines and sextiles, which are beneficial aspects, may be of some assistance in finding solutions as well. This is especially so if one of the planets in the beneficial aspect is also involved in a difficult aspect related to the problem.

Transits, Progressions, and Solar Return

To find out how current stresses might be affecting your body, transiting, progressed, and solar return aspects can be examined. The analysis goes much the same way as with the Natal Chart. The aspects can change the emphasis in the Natal and Body Chart analysis.

For example, during a period of a few weeks when Saturn conjuncts Natal Sun in the thyroid position of the Body Chart mentioned above, the thyroid may be more underactive than usual, and this could be detected. In my experience, however, all the charts must be considered to reach a clear understanding of what is affecting one's health at a given moment.

4. THE SIX BASIC

ASTROLOGICAL GAMES

Mom and Dad are at it again. First Mom rearranged the living room furniture so that the couch could be under her favorite color print: 'the colors match', she said. When Dad came home he moved it all back the way it was, complaining that she hadn't consulted him on the project. They both went off fuming into separate rooms.

What is there in Mom and Dad's astrology that represents this clash of wills? To answer this we could give a name to the general class of negative behavior for two, and call it a type of codependent game. Codependent behavior is like a dance which leads two people on a negative spiral away from intimacy and satisfactory communication. The nature of the dance may vary from couple to couple, but the end result is always self destructive for both partners. In astrology, we could describe many of these types of games, but there are only six basic types. These types have to do with the six pairs of opposing signs of the zodiac.

Why opposing signs? When two people are in a relationship, we represent that relationship, in simplest terms, by the ascendant and the descendant, which are opposing points in the horoscope. Aspects which are oppositions (planets 180 degrees apart) also are in the same relationship to one another, and are important in deciding how one person relates to another. Both these types of pairs of points are usually found in opposite signs of the zodiac, the one exception being when an opposition aspect finds two planets not exactly 180 degrees apart and straddling signs. For example, Mars at 28 degrees Aquarius is in opposition to Venus at 3 degrees Virgo. In this example, we could say that both the Aquarius-Leo and the Pisces-Virgo polarities can color the nature of the planetary energies.

In many cases the games people play are not fully described by their ascendants and planets in opposition. There are several other points in the horoscope which also can give a clue, although they have a milder effect unless accented by conjunctions of planets. In most computer astrological charts you can find points labeled VX (vertex) and EP (east point). These are also relationship points. The vertex is like a descendant and its opposing point, the antivertex, is like an ascendant. The east point is like an alternate ascendant, and its opposing point, the west point, like an alternate descendant. Research has revealed that they act the same as ascendant and descendant points, only their significance is weaker. We might say that the ascendant and descendent can represent 'major' relationship problems, while antivertex-vertex, east point-west point represent 'minor' relationship problems.

Thus if you could identify the games for these three polarities or axes by the opposing signs that they are in, you could figure out three important areas in which you may play games in relationships, particularly when transiting or progressed planets aspect these chart points. (Astrological research emphasizes squares and conjunctions to the 'ascendant' or 'descendant' end. For example, transiting moon conjunct descendant might trigger a short-lived game playing episode, since the moon is in aspect to a position for about 12 hours.) Adding any planetary oppositions in your natal chart in the same fashion may give a few more possibilities.

First let's describe the nature of the six basic games related to the six sign polarities, and then demonstrate how to apply them to your chart.

1. I can't take it anymore: the Capricorn-Cancer game.

When the ascendant-descendant points, their alternates, or opposing planets in your chart are in these signs, there can be mental, emotional, or physical abuse of power when the game is stimulated by transits and/or progressed planets. With this perverted Capricorn type of behavior, the Cancer pole reacts by exhibiting self pity and giving in to the abuse of power. The Cancer person makes no permanent attempt to remove themselves from being the object of the abuse. Such abuse can be as mild as criticism, or as virulent as physical violence.

2. Hard-hearted Hannah: the Aquarius-Leo game.

The Leo end of the opposition represents a person who commits thoughtless, ungrateful acts which in turn irritate the Aquarius person. Unfulfilled promises can initiate a form of this behavior. You forget to buy your mate's favorite cereal, after promising to do so that very morning. Forgetfulness is a form of ingratitude, irritation is self destructive. Your mate gets irritated. This behavior tends to generate more of the same, and perpetuates a vicious circle.

3. Nagger vs floater: the Pisces-Virgo game.

Either party can start the game. Virgos can be super critical or picky; so can a person represented by a point or planet in Virgo. This may cause the 'Pisces' person to avoid the issue by letting things float: no planning, no attention to 'trivial' details. An example is the couple in which the 'Pisces' person avoids making plans, packing, etc., for a trip until the day arrives for departure, while the Virgo person expresses frustration at the lack of planning which extends far beyond the little trip and into the realm of birthday dinners, home buying, and Christmas card lists.

4. I will--Oh no, you won't: the Aries-Libra game.

This is the game Mom and Dad played in moving the furniture

around. The Aries person is the 'I will' person, while the Libra person expresses the 'oh no, you won't'. In the process the flow of things in a relationship is cut off. This game is extremely hard on both sides, and represents a power struggle in which both egos try to assert themselves. There is almost a denial of the existence of each others needs and identity.

5. Help yourself--don't mind if I do: Taurus-Scorpio game.

One visualizes the destructive treat being offered by the

Scorpio person, and taken by the Taurus person. This is the strictest sense of the word codependence, and requires the Scorpio to be the enabler for the Taurus addiction. Strangely enough, it doesn't necessarily take two to play the game. This sick relationship can go on with two parts of ones own personality. You can almost hear the key words to this game mouthed by a skid row alcoholic. Drugs, alcohol, food, sex, TV, or emotional support for any bad habit can all be what Scorpio provides Taurus.

6. How could you do this to me? Gemini-Saggitarius game. The Saggitarius person may be resentful that the Gemini person has not met some supposed need. The Gemini person continues to ignore further needs, and the cycle is perpetuated. For example, a husband knows better, but buys his favorite honey-sweetened bread, and ignores the fact that his wife prefers macrobiotic sourdough. She gets mad, and doesn't buy what he likes next time she shops. Retaliation can escalate in the severest form of this game.

To see how to use these classes of games in understanding a chart, lets assume that you have Sun opposition Pluto in Virgo and Pisces in your natal chart. This means that when, say transiting Mars conjoins the Pluto, the Virgo-Pisces game may be stimulated in an extremely aggressive way. If the house placement is third and ninth, for example, both of which have to do with travel, a wife may find her husband utilizing the aggressive action of Mars combined with the power-hungry Pluto, deciding never to plan a trip again, because she insists that his lack of planning of details ruins all their vacations.

The same type of analysis works with ascendant-descendant axes, only perhaps with greater impact on a relationship. Very often stress on these polarities can cause health problems in addition to the stress of a codependent game.

One of the keys to understanding ourselves is to understand how we get off the track in relationships, and begin to create distance. We often look for people with whom we can play our favorite games. Remember that the ascendant-descendant

polarity is a major possibility, while alternate ascendant-descendants are minors, and, depending on the planets, oppositions can be major or minor problems.

How do we break our game habit patterns? By obeying the

following injunctions related to the signs as listed below:

Capricorn Use power properly

Aquarius Love one another

Pisces Master details

Aries Control yourself

Taurus Listen to your conscience

Gemini Be wisely sensitive to others needs

Cancer Maintain harmony and self security

Leo Be grateful and thoughtful

Virgo Be tolerant

Libra Affirm your partner's right to be

Scorpio Don't continually enable an addicted person

Saggitarius Transcend your hurts

Although there are many more virtues to be embodied in relationship, these give a key to overcoming the majority of codependent relationship games.

5. PLUTO

For several reasons the influence of the planet Pluto has a heightened importance in the coming decade. It is closer than the planet Neptune until 1999, but also it is near the cusp of the sign that it rules: Scorpio. Since the orbit of Pluto is far more elliptical than that of Neptune, during a little more than two decades of its 248 year orbit, it is actually nearer to us. The year of closest approach is 1989, and thus the effect of Pluto in astrological charts was at its peak. This includes, by the law of unity, the influence of Pluto in natal, progressed and solar return charts, whatever its position in the zodiac.

The spiritual significance of Pluto is that it represents the

dweller on the threshold. In occult lore, this is the beast composed of the entire accumulated misqualified energy of a person, a country, or the entire planet. This is a force to be reckoned with, and confrontations with it lead to victory or defeat. In other words it applies an irresistible, cataclysmic force. The changes are not sudden as in the case of Uranus, but build up much like a volcano and burst.

Natal Pluto in hard aspect to the Moon, Mars, or Venus, can signify difficulties in relationships, but those who have mastery over Pluto can use its power for extreme good or ill. It is the planet which rules many a cruel politician's natal chart. Martyr complexes, domination syndromes, slave driving, and difficulty with the opposite sex all result from aspects of Pluto to planets and other points in the horoscope.

Pluto in the progressed chart is at nearly the same position as in the natal chart, and thus it is very rare for it to form a new aspect with natal planets. Its position can be found by looking at an ephemeris for Pluto for the number of days after birth equal to your age. The secondary progression (progressed chart) is given for the time of the causative events in the mental world. That influences the present physical circumstance. Since energies in the mental body move much more quickly that the physical, the matrix for mental life is completed usually within three months after birth.

Pluto in the solar return chart is found by noting its location in the ephemeris near the birthday for the year in question. This will be close enough for comfort. Its position will indicate physical Plutonian initiations for the individual during the year following, which are circumstances in the outer world forcing spiritual change.

Transiting Pluto and the aspects it makes with the natal chart deal with effects that the planetary dweller on the threshold has on the makeup of the individual, in other words, how mass consciousness affects a person. Transiting Pluto is also easy to find in the ephemeris, although it commonly changes about one degree a month.

6. RIGHTING THE AXIS OF YOUR IDENTITY

What astrological attitude will best align your life, so that the light of the Mother, Kundalini, will flow from the base of the spine to the crown? The key is that the proper alignment of your identity is represented by the Nadir (base chakra) and the Midheaven (crown chakra).

In conventional astrology, the Midheaven and Nadir represent the father and mother, the career and the home, the seat of authority and the source of nurturing. This corresponds well with the esoteric notion of the crown and the base. The crown chakra is the that attracts to us the light of the Divine Father, the I Am Presence, while the base chakra, integrates us with the material world, the Divine Mother, the Shakti energy of accomplishment.

It is conventional, on the other hand, to think of the North and South Lunar Nodes as locating an axis of our past identity--past lives and karma, if you will. The Lunar Nodes are two points where the near circle of the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic or the plane of the apparent path of the Sun about the Earth.

The South Lunar Node represents our attainment from past lives; and, where it is afflicted, shows where there is opposition to outpicturing it in this life. The North Lunar Node is thought to signify a missed karmic stitch, something we must fulfill to get on with our ever-ascending destiny. The Lunar Nodes as an axis, then, impel us manifest our attainment from past lives and balance our karma.

When we pay attention to the signs, degrees, houses, and aspects of the Lunar Nodes, and master them, we are freed from the past orientation of the axis of our identity, so that we may move on to the identity reserved for us in this life, and represented by the Midheaven-Nadir axis.

This is much like the righting of an axis of a planet, so that it's inhabitants can rise to their spiritual destiny. We must 'tend to the axis', then, righting it from its orientation along the Lunar Nodes to its orientation along the Midheaven-Nadir.

There are two excellent books by Robert Hand which give excellent information on the Lunar Nodes and aspects of planets to them. The first is Horoscope Symbols, in the section on planetary pairs, which pairs up planets with the Lunar Nodes, giving simple meaning to aspects between the Nodes and a planet. The second is Planets In Transit, where transits to the Nodes are covered. Also Helpful is a good Natal Astrology book like Sakoian and Acker, The Astrologer's Handbook, which gives the significance of natal aspects to the Nodes. These books are also valuable in delineating aspects to the Midheaven (and consequently the Lower Heaven or Nadir).

The Midheaven in a natal chart, of course, represents what is overhead at birth, and the Nadir is opposite to that position. This forms a line straight through our spine when we are erect, and thus represents an impulse given to the newborn infant in the raising of the 'serpent fire' of the Kundalini along the spine. Positive aspects to this axis, like sextiles and trines, indicate opportunities and attainments which will assist in the raising of that spiritual light throughout the infant's lifetime. Difficult aspects, like squares and possibly conjunctions and oppositions, may create barriers which must be overcome to achieve the natives intended spiritual destiny.

The Lunar Nodes, as indicated in the chapter on Astrology and Your Health, also represents the physical body, which at birth, also brings into form past karma and attainment. Thus our goal is to move from the bodily consciousness of our past karma to the spiritual consciousness of our divine destiny: to right the axis of the Nodes to meet the axis of Midheaven-Nadir.

This righting of the axis may also bring cataclysm in our worlds when we don't pay attention to it. Just as for a world whose poles shift, drastic changes may occur suddenly to those unprepared to meet their God. Working on aspects to the Nodes and Midheaven-Nadir, then, prevents tragic occurrences when meeting the oncoming tide of light in the changing of the Ages from Pisces to Aquarius (happening now), and the beginning simultaneously of a new cycle (in 2279 AD) of the center of the Galaxy passing through 0 degrees Capricorn (see next chapter on Your Ancient Astrological History).

7. YOUR ANCIENT ASTROLOGICAL HISTORY

The Cycle of the Galactic Center

The changeover from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age is an extremely important transition. Among the Age changes which occur every 2160 years it is the one which nearly corresponds to the Galactic Center approaching the 0 degree Capricorn point. This is the beginning of another 26,000 year cycle related the precession of the equinoxes, a phenomenon associated with the tilting of the axis of the earth in a direction pointing toward the twelve constellations of the zodiac in succession.

This milestone in earthly cycles is reached in 2279 AD, and marks the beginning a new vibration coming from the center of the Milky Way toward Earth. 0 degrees Capricorn signifies a new beginning, related to winter solstice, a time when some esoterics say, the parcel of spiritual light from the sun behind the sun for the year is deposited for the planet. The galactic center, then, will be giving us a new impulse for another 26,000 years.

What has happened over the last 26,000 year cycle? We can turn to Edgar Cayce and Elizabeth Clare Prophet to find out. Both speak of the final rise of Atlantis which we might believe had something to do with the last appearance of the Galactic Center at 0 degrees Capricorn in about 23,600 BC (see chart). Both Cayce and Prophet, interestingly enough, date the final fall of Atlantis at about 10,500 BC. This is within about 150 years of the 0 degree Cancer, or halfway point of the cycle of the Galactic Center. This makes perfect sense, as the 0 degree Cancer position represents the return of the karma generated in the beginning of the cycle. It always takes 1/2 a cycle for karma to return. This karma is related to the use of the Galactic impulse for that cycle.

The final fall of Atlantis was precipitated by misuse of the 'firestone', a crystal used to concentrate and disseminate rays from the sun by induction.

Further back in the mirror of time we see the first fall of Lemuria (and first reforming of Atlantis into separate islands), dated at sometime shortly after 50,772 BC by Edgar Cayce. Somehow, according to Cayce, the use of explosives to rid the earth of large animals disrupted the volcanic structure of the earth, the axis tilted, coatlines changed, Lemuria began to sink, and the last of the great Ice Ages began. This period is very close to another 0 degree Capricorn transit of the Galactic Center. This cycle culminated at a time corresponding to the first appearance of Jesus on Atlantis, according to Elizabeth Prophet, in 36,000 BC. This again is a 0 degree Cancer transit.

Thus we find the most important points in esoteric ancient history aligning with 0 degrees Capricorn or Cancer crossing for the Milky Way Galactic Center.

Another confirming statement is found in Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar's text, The Holy Science, supposedly inspired by the ageless Babaji. He dates the beginning of the Aquarian Age as 2499 AD, which is only about 200 years off from the 0 degree Capricorn transit. However, it is more remarkable that Sri Yukteswar says, "the sun... takes some star for its dual and revolves about it in about 24,000 years of our earth--a celestial phenomenon which causes the backward movement of the equinoctial points around the zodiac." Could it be that the 'star' referred to is the Galactic Center, and that the apparent revolution about it is rather the revolution of the earth's axis with respect to it?

It is interesting to note that although the length of the cycle of precession is about 26,000 years now, it was most probably

24,000 years in about 29,000 BC (by my calculation from astronomical data)--just prior to the final fall of Lemuria. Thus the figures given by Yukteswar may have been handed down from that time, in which Maitreya, the Buddha who is to come, had a mystery school we now know as the Garden of Eden (as stated by Elizabeth Clare Prophet).

The Cycle of the Supergalactic Center

The Supergalactic Center is the gravitational center of the Supercluster of Galaxies in which our Local Group (our cluster) resides. This is the next step up in the hierarchy to the Central Sun, and its alignment with 0 degrees Capricorn and Cancer should be of significance, releasing a Supergalactic influence on the earth. This Supergalactic Center is near center of the Virgo A galaxy, a nearly spherical globe of perhaps 100 trillion stars. It is the largest galaxy we can see in the sky.

Its dates are a little more difficult to identify. The 0 degrees Cancer positions seem to relate to the first two falls of Atlantis in about 50,000 and 28,000 BC (the final Fall of Lemuria, according to Cayce). However, the dates are substantially off, at 56,000, and 30,000 BC. The second fall Cayce identifies with the Flood of Noah. It is also possible that there was an early appearance of the Yellow Emperor (esoterically known) near the 4,595 BC date. Again, this is the Supergalactic Center at 0 degrees Cancer.

The Midpoint Cycle

The midpoint between the Galactic Center and the Supergalactic Center seems to have historical significance as well. The 0 degree Cancer position of it seems to coincide with a Golden Age of about 2,000 years in length centered about the appearance of Jesus on Atlantis at about 33,050 BC, according to Elizabeth Prophet. The date the cycle gives is 33,767 BC. Also significant is the appearance of the mystery school of Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of days in what is now the Gobi desert, for which Prophet's date is 8,000 BC. This is very near another 0 degrees Cancer point for the Midpoint at 7895 BC.

Ancient History and Your Chart

The present position of these three significant points release points for cosmic energy in the universe is:

The Galactic Center -- 26.01 degrees Saggitarius

Supergalactic Center -- 1.65 degrees Libra

The Midpoint -- 17.58 degrees Scorpio

Planets in your chart that form aspects with these centers, represent your relationship to the energies which emanate from them, and particularly relate to the onset and return points of their cycles at 0 degrees Capricorn and Cancer. Thus the events on the historical chart that relate to these positions may have special significance if you have aspects to them.

For example, if you had a Mars, Saturn T-square formed with the present position of the Galactic Center, that might signify that you may suffered a violent death or mishap during the 1st fall of Lemuria or the final fall of Atlantis.

Neptune trine to the Midpoint might mean that you developed great spiritual sensitivity, and paranormal ability (or musical talent) in the Shamballa, Gobi Desert mystery school of Sanat Kumara or with Jesus during the Golden Age of Atlantis.

Historical Chart

Galactic Center

0 d Cap 2,279 AD Near beginning of Aquarian Age

0 d Can 10,657 BC Final Fall of Atlantis

(beginning of the Age of Leo)

0 d Cap 23,593 BC Final rise of Atlantis

0 d Can 36,529 BC Jesus first appears on earth

0 d Cap 49,465 BC The first fall of Lemuria

Supergalactic Center

0 d Cap 8,341 AD A new cosmic age

0 d Can 4,595 BC A Chinese Golden Age (Yellow

Emperor)

0 d Cap 17,531 BC

0 d Can 30,467 BC The Great Flood, Final Fall of

Mu. Maitreya's Mystery

School.

0 d Cap 43,403 BC

0 d Can 56,339 BC An early Golden Age on Mu?

Midpoint

0 d Cap 5,041 AD Realists get their karma back.

0 d Can 7,895 BC Sanat Kumara's Mystery School

(Realists destroy it.)

0 d Cap 20,831 BC

0 d Can 33,767 BC Jesus' last on Atlantis

0 d Cap 46,703 BC

8.WINDING ANDUNWINDING:

THIS 'MORTAL COIL'

Significance of Retrograde Planets

Point your left thumb upward, and curl the fingers of that hand toward the palm. This is an ancient symbol for a retrograde planet. From the perspective of earth, a planet goes retrograde when it reverses its apparent course through the sky.

Normally, a planet revolves about the earth in a prograde motion. This may be symbolized by pointing the right thumb upward. If one visualizes a thread of light extending from the planet to your body, a prograde planet winds the thread about you counterclockwise when viewed from above. This is in the direction of the curled fingers of the right hand, when the thunb is up. A retrograde planet, however, winds a thread about you counterclockwise, unwinding a portion of the prograde thread it wound before it went retrograde.

The difference between prograde and retrograde may signify winding and unwinding karma, good and bad. When a natal planet is retrograde, it is possible that this means the person will spend a lifetime unraveling what they have wound about them in past lives, that is, balancing karma. This karma relates to the significance of the planet. For example, Mars represents the bad karma of violence, anger, frustration, or, on the other hand the good karma of initiative, leadership, and being in touch with your deepest desires and those of others. In this way a retrograde planet may be a doorway to understanding past lives.

Bear in mind that this does not necessarily mean that a retrograde planet signifies something negative. Only when it is in difficult aspect (square, opposition, etc.) does this indicate that the native created stressful circumstances for others in past lives, and must experience similar circumstance in this life. An easier aspect (trine, sextile) to a retrograde planet portends the return of the gift of attainment, an opportunity given to others in past lives.

Prograde planets represent circumstances provided for new growth, circumstances that are not karmic, but that God or the universe intend to develop the identity of the soul. Jesus said of a man who was born blind from birth, "Neither he nor his parents sinned,..., he was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed in him."

Transiting and progressed planets may be interpreted as individuals or forces in ones life. If they are retrograde, they indicate that the individual or outer institution is working off karma. If direct, the planets symbolize persons and groups experiencing interaction with the native for the purpose of unfoldment. For transits, the winding and unwinding represents outer events. Progressions have a more psychological character, although the combination of the two may precipitate physical events into a person's world.

9. POWER PLANETS

Harbingers of Success

Michel and Francoise Guaquelin, psychologists researching astrology, investigated thousands of charts. They found, to their surprise, that success in various fields often is accompanied by a natal chart with the planet related to the employment in a 'power position'. These positions are the 9th and 12th houses in conventional astrology. The data seemed to indicate that the middle of these two houses is the peak position of power for driving a successful career. A discussion of how the house system might be reformed to match this data is given in the chapter called, A New Scientific House System.

When, as an astrologer, I want to find major keys to a person's mission, divine plan, or successful career, I use the 'power' planets a base. The closer to the center of the 9th or 12th house, the more powerful the drive to succeed in the related field. Investigating their aspects, signs, degrees, rulerships, etc., can be very helpful. If no power planets exist, the successful career must be found elsewhere, and it may indicate that the individual lacks initiative or clarity with regard to a plan for achievement.

In the Guaquelin research, Mars was a power planet for sports champions. Jupiter often powered successful actors, The moon successful writers, Saturn successful scientists and doctors. One would suspect that Venus would relate to artists and creative persons, but no such significance was found. No effect was found for Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, but it may be that those planets work in combination when in the power position.

10. SUPERPROGRESSIONS

The Resolution of the Twin problem

How is it that two people, born at nearly the same time in the same hospital, turn out so differently? Why is it that twins, born minutes apart, having nearly identical Natal Charts, develop different personalities and lives? Ordinary Natal Charts alone have no power to discriminate very small time differences, i.e., under a few minutes.

In one minute, for example, the largest motion in a Chart is the Ascendant and House Cusps, which move a mere 1/4 of a degree. The Moon in one minute moves less that 1/100 th of a degree.

To astrologically describe short lengths of time, one could go to a dwad system, with 2.5 degrees per sign, and then a subdwad would represent a little less than 1/4 of a degree, a minute of time's change in the Ascendant. However, such fine subdivision of time would allow for very little information.

I have found an answer in what I call superprogressions. As Hermes Trismegistus said, "as above, so below". Cycles of time all mirror each other. An ordinary progressed or secondary chart shrinks time. One days motion replaces a year. A day's cycle mirrors a year's cycle. Why not, I reasoned, expand time instead of shrinking it?

The first possibility is to let a years motion replace a day. This, however, only stretches 1 minute to about 6 hours. Not very useful for natal chart discrimination.

When one expands one year to the entire cycle for precession of the equinoxes (a cycle of 'ages'), however, an interesting correspondence occurs. One minute is stretched to about 18 days. As in a normal progressed chart this gives time for the inner planets to change. Thus minutes superprogressed give comparable changes to decades progressed.

To compare twins, for example, one could superprogress the twin born last, and compare his/her chart to the earlier twin. This accents the differences nicely, and tell something about their relationship and interaction, just like a progressed chart tells a person about how they have changed from birth.

11. ASTROLOGICAL REBIRTH

It is commonly thought that once born, we are stuck with our natal astrology. The configuration of the planets at the exact time of our birth is said to be the backdrop for the outpicturing of the woes and throes for an entire lifetime.

Recently, I began to question whether I was born at the intended time. If, for example, nefarious forces were able to delay a child's birth or bring it in prematurely, by as much as days, the natal chart of the infant could be changed. Perhaps unplanned difficult aspects could be brought into focus. Every two hours off from the intended birth time puts the planets into successive houses, switching the area of life to which their aspects apply. Days off switches the aspects for the Moon, and perhaps the Sun, Venus, and Mercury.

Thinking that this may have been the reason for a difficult life for myself, I began to muscle test, and found that I should have been born about 3 days earlier. When I printed out a chart for the time tested, I found that difficult aspects inhibiting my supply, happiness, and writing disappeared, and the good ones tightened up. In addition, my T-square became a single square, and another 'tough' square weakened considerably. The exact time chosen put Mercury conjunct to the Ascendant in Aquarius exactly conjunct to the Part of Fortune! This was quite fortuitous for an astrological career.

I next reasoned that if this was the timing intended for my birth, that perhaps I should try affirming it. Here's how I did it.

"In the name of the Christ, I claim, in part or in whole, as God does will it, the natal chart of (date, time, location) as a replacement for my natal chart, particularly (name the positive aspects and their qualities)."

In a few weeks, I noticed remarkable changes in my attitudes, fortune, and opportunities. Before the claim, my work had dropped to half time. After, I found a job and a wonderful home in another city, strictly over the phone, without a resume!

It is not always possible to find a chart as nice as the one I found so close to my actual birth time, but in many cases a much improved natal astrology can be chosen and adopted with faith in the power of God's will over human astrology.

"I am reborn in the Power of God's intended birth time for me!"

12. *CYCOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF CYCLES--

A NEW ASTROLOGICAL VISION

How To Clear the Blocks to your Alchemy

Why does an NFL quarterback have a better 4th quarter, on the average, than any other quarter? Why does a particular cook always have problems assembling the ingredients for a recipe, and then everything goes smoothly? Why does a certain salesman always feel guilty when closing a deal, and at no other time? What is it in a given person's Psychology that continually breaks up their relationships after about 6 months?

Each one of these questions refers to a time frame for accomplishing something, and although some astrologers may be able to answer these questions in terms of astrological cycles, there is no accepted universal, simple framework for doing so. This work hopes to establish such a framework, and show how to use it to understand the order and nature of energies that a person or nation manifests in different cycles of existence.

"As above, so below", Hermes suggested as the universal law of time and space. With regards cycles this suggests that all cycles, long and short, have the same structure. However, modern astrology, with all its advances, seems to become more complex, particularly when it comes to the stages of cycles. There is the synodical cycle, which goes from Aries stage through Pisces stage, Dwads and Decanates, the eight stage lunation cycle, the twenty eight stage Hindu Zodiac,

and the 360 Sabian symbols just to name a few. All these are applied, sometimes by the same astrologer, in penetrating the mysteries of an individual's astrology.

Some simplification has occurred in utilizing the 12 letters of the astrological alphabet (promoted by Zipporah Dobyns). However, the complex and various divisions are first applied to the horoscope, transits, or progressions and then related to the 12 letters (sign qualities). This retains the complexity, and ignores the Hermetic injunction to simplicity: all cycles are alike (to paraphrase).

If all cycles are alike, and we understand the division of a cycle into twelve perhaps better than any other division*, where in the zodiac should we legislate cycles to begin? Tradition would probably say Aries, as this is the sign of the First House. Spring planting begins at the Vernal Equinox, and the cycle of growth begins, so why not Aries? However, Spring planting is something invented by man. The actual planting of Mother Nature began in the late Fall or early Winter when the plant dropped its seed. Some say the Aries thrust initiates cycles because of its 'ram' nature. Then what about the Capricorn mountain 'goat'? Its association with the heights suggests spiritual beginnings, and the connection with the beginning of the dormant stage of the seed at Winter Solstice forces us to consider that things may start before we see any physical change. The Winter Solstice also marked the beginning of the ancient Hindu year.

Indeed, esoteric lore suggests that all cycles begin with an etheric or spiritual blueprint stage which can only be identified with Capricorn. Certainly this forces cycles to begin with the Father principle of the deity which is traditionally associated with the sign of Capricorn, and symbolizes a transcendent energy as far from being material as possible within the framework of a cycle.

Thus a worthy project begins with a divine inspiration, a Psychological period with an influx of illumination which brings difficulties to the surface, and a historical cycle begins with a spiritual 'moving on the waters'. These forces are all the domain of the 'Father'.

It is not difficult, then, to identify the opposite pole of the cycle with the Mother, or the sign of Cancer. Her assistance brings projects from the blueprint and planning stage to fruition by providing the proper environment for bringing them forth.

Having established, then, that all cycles in our system should begin with a Capricorn stage and end with a Saggitarian stage (with the Cancerian stage in the middle), it remains for us to integrate this picture with the paramount symbol of cycles, the circle. Traditional astrology numbers Aries the first house and then numbers in sequence counterclockwise. However, such a direction for cycles runs psychologically counter to the concept of progress which runs with the clock, not against it. Let us then number our stages clock wise: Capricorn at twelve o'clock, Aquarius at 1 o'clock, Pisces at 2 o'clock, etc (as on a clock). This structure for the universal cycle was revealed to Elizabeth Clare Prophet as the Cosmic Clock, a basis for a spiritual understanding of astrology. It will be used throughout the book, except where it is necessary to translate to traditional astrological lore to make the concepts clear.

Thus, for example, in the cycle where the planet Pluto transits through the sign of Scorpio, this cycle, which may vary in length from 12 to 25 years, will be divided into twelve stages of equal duration: from the Capricorn 'phase' to the Saggitarius 'phase'.

It should be born in mind that this is not the only way of dividing the cycle. One could use a twofold division of Father to Mother; a threefold division of Cardinal, Fixed, to Mutable; a fourfold division of Etheric, Mental, Emotional, and Physical, and so on. However, the deep study over many centuries of the twelvefold astrological signs makes this division most fruitful.

Types of Astrological Cycles

There are basically two types of cycles in astrology. One is planetary, the other personal. A planetary cycle is governed by the passage of a planet or heavenly body through a cycle relative to a position in the sky or another heavenly body. A personal cycle is ruled by the passage of a transiting or progressed heavenly body (usually a planet) through areas of the horoscope of a particular individual (natal, helio, progressed, solar return, etc.) The planetary cycle relates a cycle in the mass consciousness and environment of a planet. The personal cycle relates movements in the life circumstances and psychology of an individual which are distinct from planetary, but may derive from them.

I. Planetary Cycles

The two major types of planetary cycles are: (A) Zodiacal, relating to the movement of a heavenly body through the tropical or siderial zodiac in geocentric or heliocentric perspective, (B) Conjunctional, relating to the movement of one heavenly body past another in the sky. It should be noted that although characteristics for the planet as a whole may be delineated from these cycles, even these cycles may be placed in the context of, say, an individuals natal horoscope, and their impact on the person described. For example, the beginning of the Saturn-Jupiter conjunctional cycle at 9 degrees Libra on January 1, 1981, could be placed in a particular house in a person's natal horoscope to see what area of life this spiritual-financial cycle starts to impact.

Realize that both these types of planetary cycles may be divided into 12 phases ala the Cosmic Clock. Pluto through Scorpio, for example, goes through twelve substages from Capricorn to Saggitarius. We will show how to find a persons interface with these cycles later on. For now, we are just giving an overview of the types of cycles.

II. Personal Cycles

Several types of personal cycles present themselves: (A) Environmental: movement of a transiting planet through a house or sign in a natal, progressed, or solar return chart, (B) Behavioral: movement of a progressed planet through a house or sign in any type of chart, (C) Drive Unfoldment: transiting or progressed planet conjunct to a natal, progressed, or solar return planet begins cycle, (D) Self Assertion: transiting or progressed planet from Ascendant to Ascendant in some chart. Each of these cycles can bring the involvement of the individual in a project, mode of behavior, or relationship.

Horoscope and Cycloscope

Astrology utilizes a chart of the positions of the planets in the heavens called a horoscope. We will make a chart derived from the horoscope called a 'Cycloscope' which tells a person when, in any cycle of a certain kind of activity, a planetary energy will be expressed, and how it will be expressed. Such a chart is useful in many ways, but particularly in understanding how a person goes about completing a project. Thus, we will explore what one might call 'Alchemical Astrology'.

The easiest cycle for which we can build a 'Cycloscope' is the planetary zodiacal type of cycle in which a transiting planet moves through a complete sign of the zodiac, traversing 30 degrees. To lay the groundwork for this type of cycle, it is helpful to discuss the nature of the Transit Chart. This chart gives a 'snapshot' of the actual position of the planets in the heavens at a given time. To utilize this information, these planetary positions are compared to those in the Natal Chart to see how the physical environment is stimulating the release of karma, encoded in the Natal Chart.

Although transiting planets work to create a planetary environment, people experience this environment in different ways, depending on where these planets are in their charts. Two factors which are important in assessing the impact on an individual of a planetary zodiacal cycle are (1) house placement or straddling (sometimes a sign crosses over into a second house) and (2) the order and type of aspects a transiting planet makes as it passes through a particular sign.

When a transiting planet changing sign, initiating a zodiacal cycle, some people might call this 'turning over a new leaf'. For example, the planet Pluto moved in the sign of Scorpio in 1984 and as of early 1991 has only gone through a little more than two thirds of the 30 degrees allotted to that sign. This is indeed an alchemy of transformation of the souls of the planet by an irresistible force (Pluto) in an irresistible way (Scorpio is ruled by Pluto). It is a period of having to face a portion of the planetary dweller on the threshold which is different for each individual, and depends on each persons' house location of transiting Pluto, and natal aspects to it. Transiting Pluto works through the environment, representing the planetary momentum of anti-light, forcing people to change by making them face a portion of the planetary darkness. The Scorpio portion deals with selfishness, sensuality, and the misuse of the vision. The war on drugs is a good example of this action. It began in about 1984 with an increased awareness of the damage being done to our society by substance abuse. During this period not only the use of drugs is under attack, but cigarette smoking, and alcohol abuse. The important point was that this period forced us to look at the problem by bringing to attention the violence, death, and injury of this behavior. While this specific example is fine, and many Astrologers would agree with it, what can we say in general about a cycle of this type? First, the planet transiting through a sign will make aspects to the natal planets in the order of increasing degrees, irrespective of what signs they are in. Putting it another way, the planet with the lowest degree will be aspected by the transiting planet first, then the planet of next lowest degree will be aspected, and etc. This is possible because every thirty degree separation of planets corresponds to an important aspect: semisextile (30 degrees), sextile (60 degrees), square (90 degrees), trine (120 degrees), inconjunct (150 degrees), and opposition (180 degrees). This is a very important key. To understand it, note what happens, say, for Pluto transiting through Scorpio in the sample natal chart on the next page.

First it makes an aspect (semisextile, or 30 degrees) to the North Node of the Moon at 1 degree, then to Venus at 3 degrees (sextile, or 60 degrees), then to Uranus at 6 degrees (square, 90 degrees). Bear in mind that this does not always occur with ever-widening aspects. This continues for planets of increasing degree until Pluto has aspected every planet in the chart, at which time it will have passed through the full 30 degrees of the sign of Scorpio. I have temporarily ignored the signs and houses of the natal planets and just looked at the degrees within the sign regions.

This ordering of planets which a transiting planet aspects as it moves through a sign is the same for any planet and any sign! As Doris Hebel has found in her research reported in her book, Celestial Psychology, different aspects of the same planets behave in much the same way, so much so that she bases her entire book on the analysis of planetary pairs, without considering the aspects between them. The order of planetary influences in the sample chart will always be North Node, Venus, Uranus, etc. This will be true not only for cycles initiated by transiting planets, but also for those initiated by progressing planets. Thus personal behavioral cycles can be described by the same type of analysis, giving the technique psychological applicability as well as alchemical. Some cycles in our lives will match transiting planets, some will match progressing.

To make this pattern clearer, we can plot the thirty degrees a planet passes through in this type of cycle in a circle, stretching out the 30 degrees which is 1/12th of a circle into a full cyclic picture. We show this generalized cycle outplaying in a clockwise direction, and call this a Cycloscope. We can thus imagine any transiting or progressing planet circling once around this circle as it passes through one complete sign.

Since the aspects the moving planet makes are less important than the planetary energies themselves, we suppress the aspects made during this cycle and plot the natal planets around the circle by noting their degree only. This is done, taking data from our sample horoscope. This ignores the sign and house placement, which also is of secondary importance to the planetary energy or force. Although the Cycloscope ignores aspects, signs, and houses, these can be referred to by keeping the horoscope and transit or progressed chart close at hand.

However, even when we ignore these factors, the Cycloscope gives us a picture of the order that planetary energies operate in a zodiacal cycle. Furthermore, we can divide the cycle in twelve portions of 2.5 degrees each to give us an understanding of the stages of this planetary or personal cycle. Note that the Cycloscope is universal for any zodiacal cycle, giving the order of planetary energies as they appear in relation to the transiting or progressing planet.

We can then study this universal cycle in detail. First, we will delineate the stages in: (1) the alchemical cycle, (2) the behavioral cycle. The alchemical cycle is indicated in Table 1 and the behavioral in table 2. These stages relate the coloration of the twelve signs of the zodiac to the stages in the particular cycle.

Once the stages are in hand, we can apply them to the interpretation of the Cycloscope. Consicer the cycloscope for our sample horoscope (above):

We can say a lot about how this 'person' responds to any transiting planet through any sign without knowing the planet or the sign. Looking at the first or Capricorn stage from 0 to 2.5 degrees, we can say that the first energy to hit in the cycle is that of the Lunar North Node. The North Node deals with connections with people. Thus we can say that our native first tends to pick up ideas for project purpose from coming into contact with others. Just how this contact 'inspires' can be determined by investigating the aspects to the North Node in the natal horoscope. However, for simplicity, we will ignore the natal chart for the moment. Next, early in the second Aquarian stage, the native draws on the creative nature of Venus to formulate a plan. In the third, Piscean stage of mastering the components of the plan, we find our person facing the impulsive energy of Uranus. This can lead either to sudden detailed inspiration, or impulsive abandonment of the project. The next two stages: 'specifics' and 'development' are planetless, and thus may go rather smoothly. However in the Gemini 5th stage of integrating the plan into a whole the energies of the Moon and Mars come in succession. This person's inner child (the Moon) may either bog down and lose interest, or become fascinated; and after it does, the project moves on with the momentum of Mars, or gets derailed by aggressive attacks in the realm of integrating the plan.

A helpful reference in our study of cycloscopes is Robert Hand's Horoscope Symbols, particularly Chapter 9: 'Brief Meanings of Planetary Pairs'. This is particularly useful when we study the transit of a particular planet, since we can combine the transiting planet with planets on the cycloscope wheel in succession.

Now construct and analyze your own cycloscope (next page):

13. A NEW SCIENTIFIC HOUSE SYSTEM

The traditional house system in Astrology is a method of assigning the energies associated with planets in the signs with their aspects, to act in certain compartments of life, so to speak. The First House, for example is naturally ruled by the sign of Aries and relates to the personality and appearance of the person whose chart is being considered. The houses are normally considered to be of lesser importance than the planets, aspects, and signs.

When Michel and Francois Guaquelin investigated the significance of houses scientifically, however, they found that the placement of planets in the houses brought the planetary energy into prominence as of significance with regard to career and personality characteristics only if the planet were in the traditional 12th and 9th houses (see Cosmic Influences On Human Behavior, Dr. Michel Guaquelin). Approximately 60,000 charts were used in this study. Their results would make sense if the 12th were the 10th house of Capricorn rulership, and the the 9th were the 1st house of Aries rulership instead of the usual assignment.

This could be accomplished if one placed a 2-sided mirror through the center of the traditional 5th and 11th houses, and found new house assignments in the mirror. This would place the house of Aries, personality, and appearance in the position of 12-1 o'clock on the horoscope wheel. The house of Capricorn and career would then be the one just above the position of the horizon in the east between 9 and 10 o'clock on a clock fact. Leaving the planets in the same positions, then, the houses would be assigned as in the Cosmic Clock going clockwise from the eastern horizon, the house meaning of Capricorn significance (formerly house 10) coming first. This is a reasonable description, since the rising of the sun is utilized as the beginning of a cycle.

This new house system matches the significance of the former 1st and 10th houses with the power positions in the natal chart, just above the eastern horizon, and just beyond the zenith. Such an assignment makes not only scientific, but esoteric sense.

Using this new scientific house system is quite simple. It is easiest to name the houses by their sign rulerships. The first house above the eastern horizon we may call the 'Capricorn house', the second the 'Aquarius house', the third the 'Pisces house', and etc.

The twelve houses named in this fashion then have the usual significance assigned to the sign rulers. For example, the Capricorn house deals with career, authority, father, and self empowerment. Note that the 5th and 11th houses maintain the same rulership and significance, and the 2nd and 8th houses switch significance (not to radical a change, since they both can deal with money and resources). The other houses are reassigned, but with a little experience at delineating charts using the new system, one finds it to be surprisingly more accurate, although more research may be needed to verify my suspicion that it is a better system.

14. POSSIBLE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF ASTROLOGY

'How does Astrology work?' This is the question most asked of me as an Astrologer and Astrophysicist. If we knew how Astrology works, many of us would have a deeper motivation for studying the subject. After years of contemplating this vital question, here is one possible explanation. This article speculates on the steps consciousness, the right and left brain, and the etheric body might take in the return of karma, signified by the signs in the skies.

An important piece of the puzzle was illuminated recently by Elizabeth Clare Prophet in her lecture, 'Disciplining the Four Lower Bodies'. She said, "the order in the etheric body is established by the Law of Cycles." What follows is my own personal scientific interpretation of this statement. The etheric body is the memory body, in which information capable of reproducing everything that happens to us is stored. Wilder Penfield demonstrated this when he found that, by electrically stimulating certain portions of the right brain, complete versions of past experiences were replayed. It was as if the patient were transported back in time. The real key to time travel, however, is that it is accessible through God consciousness, and it is dangerous to scientifically tinker with the brain and the programs God has created for it.

Aside from time being a state of mind, and therefore relative, Astrology, karma, and the Law of Cycles require that the information representing events and actions be recorded in an orderly fashion. To create the 'panorama' of returning karma, data from past actions in many cycles must be retrieved and blended.

Using current knowledge of brain functioning, and considering the karmic implications of Astrology, the following model for astrological influence can be constructed. Consider an analogy to the functioning of the right and left brain and etheric body. Think of a computer hooked up to thousands of spirals on which data can be recorded much like sound is recorded on a phonograph record or compact disc. Imagine one spiral or 'record' for each astrological combination of two planets. For simplicity, consider one moving planet (could be transiting) and one stationary planet or position (could be natal). As the moving planet moves through one cycle relative to the stationary planet or point, the place in the spiral at which information from present experience is recorded also rotates through 360 degrees.

The right brain, which scientists have found to be capable of analyzing perceptions frozen in a moment in time, is capable of sorting the data from a moment's experience in the 'now' (momentary 'gestalt') into different categories of information. Thus in our model, the 'right brain' part of the computer takes all the information from a given moment's experience and sorts it according to the qualities representing each planetary aspect pair in an individual etheric spiral. A feeling of loving appreciation might be recorded on the Venus-Sun records, for example.

The angle on the spiral at which each impression is recorded is important, because at a given moment all the information recorded on a straight line radiating from the spiral center is accessed in order for the mind and God's consciousness to produce the world in which we experience our karmic returns and God's will and mercy. In the model, God's consciousness is the operator of the computer associated with the brain, and can program it for mercy, forgiveness, and free will: within the bounds of Karmic Law.

One could picture the right brain portion of the computer accessing the 'records' by using a laser which quickly scans a radial line on each recorded spiral at each moment in time. All recorded information at the various positions in the cycles that the spiral records are turning through, could be gathered by a holographic technique, using the interference patterns of a laser with the spiral.

This is similar to the accessing of data recorded on a compact disc, and includes all data from each past repetition of a given cycle. From this information, the right brain computer then assembles images and impressions to be used to assemble the next moment of experience.

These composite images and impressions then must be integrated with the past moment in time, and converted from karmic 'sowings' to the opposite polarity of karmic 'reapings'. If someone had a habit of sending out Christmas cards, then impressions of those sendings must bring about the receipt of cards at the right times. The sense of order in time and ability to logically reverse the polarity of karma is a capability of the left brain, the logical, time-oriented part of the 'computer'. So in our model, the left brain portion of the 'computer' works with the right brain assembled images and impressions and God's consciousness to produce the world experienced from moment to moment, in which we sense the flow of the river of time.

15. UNVEILING TIME

Francis Bacon and the Great Pyramid

Nearly 13,000 years ago, a remnant of the high civilization of Atlantis in built the "time capsule" we call the Great Pyramid. Earth science is just beginning to recognize the wealth of knowledge encoded in this structure. Not only is the transcendental number, pi, built into its dimensions, but the mass, diameter, and shape of the earth, the cycles of the ages, and more. It was conceived to pass on spiritual and scientific knowledge to mankind during the present era of transition to what is called "the Aquarian Age" when much of the evil works committed in the fall of Atlantis return to mankind for redemption. This return, however, is related to another cycle, as indicated in the previous chapter: the transit of the galactic center to the point of 0 degrees Capricorn to occur in 2279 AD.

The pyramid is a sign and signet of the hope of the ages: the union of science and spirit in the science of the Divine Mother. It is still hoped, though there is much to lament, that its presence and meaning will catalyze the onset of a new Golden Age, the 'New Atlantis', as Francis Bacon has called it.

It had also been expected that by now the significance of the accompanying stone structure, the Sphynx, would be understood by mankind, and the date of its construction known. The human head resting on lion's haunches known as the "guardian of the winds" has remained an enigma for thousands of years. Its true significance, however, is not difficult to express. Since the knowledge of the precession of the Earth's axis through the zodiac has been associated with certain constellations, whose associated forms do not change rapidly with the ages, the Sphinx was built to represent the transition between ages at the final sinking of the Atlantean continent. It was built on the cusp between the Ages of Virgo and Leo which each span about 2160 years of the 26,000 year cycle of precession of the equinoxes. In it, the axis of rotation of the planet, projected into the plane of itself and its sun, aligns with twelve constellations in succession. Thus the synthesis of a woman and a lion's form combines the symbols of the two constellations on either side of the cusp. The Earth seer Edgar Cayce confirms this fact by placing the building of the pyramid at 10,500 B.C. This is the date one would calculate by counting back through the zodiac to that particular cusp position.

Aside from encoding their own epoch, the builders of the structure also hoped that at the polar opposite in the cycle of precession, the transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age, the identification of the symbols would be given an extra impetus, and that the dating of the pyramid would follow from the dating of the Sphinx. Unfortunately, many other structures were built in the area in the ages that followed, some imitations of the Great Pyramid. This confused the association of the Sphinx with the original pyramid. At an even deeper level of revelation, built into the Great Pyramid's structure itself is a prophecy of the incarnation of Francis Bacon, the one destined to guide the planet to the new Golden Age. The sum of the length of the diagonals of the pyramid in pyramid inches equals the period of the precession of the Earth's axis in years. The precise equality of the two, however, occurs in the year 1560, as the speed of the precession varies slightly over the epochs of time. 1560 is recognized by some as the birth year of Bacon, the father of the scientific method (others claim 1561). An explanation of the term 'pyramid inches' and the calculation leading to this identification is noted in the work, The Great Pyramid: Signs in the Sun, by John E. Gangstad. That the connection of Bacon's birth to the construction of the Pyramid was planned, has not been recognized by mankind. His work in the raising of the Earth, and in stimulating scientific progress so that mankind can spend more time in spiritual pursuits should be given close attention by those who would assist in this work.

The Historical Coverup

One of the most effective means of making sure that the concepts of the fallen ones are accepted by the general populace and scientific establishment is by promoting the notion that their latest version of Psi-ence is the most advanced ever known on this planet. Perhaps the greatest danger to the predominance of the serpent mind and its concepts in Earth science is that mankind will awaken to the greatness and spirituality of science in past ages such as that of the Atlantean and Lemurian civilizations.

The historical attempt to blame the construction of the Great Pyramid on the Egyptian ruler, Khufu, is an example of such treachery. There is considerable doubt as to whether a king named Khufu ever existed, and if he did, he lived in a period much more recent than the date of 2500 BC when he was claimed to have constructed the pyramid. In addition, though cartouches for Khufu and an unknown Knum-Khuf are were found in the sealed internal pressure-relieving chambers of the pyramid, a strong case can be made that the king Khufu, if he existed, was named after the god which these names represent. (See Pyramid Odyssey by William R. Fix for details.)

It is now certain the Sphinx is over 9,000 years old. The water weathering on its base could not have occurred at a later epoch, and could only have been caused by massive flooding.

Other evidence which has not been previously explored by Earth historians indicates the existence of an advanced and very ancient science of astronomy, chronicled in the Hindu writing, Surya Siddhanta. This book contains many figures and concepts which relate to knowledge of the universe obtained on Earth only in the Surya Siddhanta is the record of the imparting of a knowledge of astronomy from Surya to Asuramaya by means of "a part of himself". Though "Surya" is often translated as sun, it is actually the being than ensouls the brightest star in the sky, the local seat of galactic government: Sirius. By a 'part of himself', Surya is referring to his own disciple, as Surya is too exalted to spend time on such matters. The Peruvian city of Cuzco is named after this disciple. The true dating of this discourse, though historians hotly disputed it in the 19th century, relates to a period of time it describes as the end of the Golden Age. Burgess and Whitney, in their translation of the text calculate that age to end 2,164,960 years ago. This assumes the yuga or age presented in the writing to be the one upon which the golden age is based. In actuality, the yuga referred to is the golden age of the 26,000 year cycle of precession of the equinoxes, and thus ended over 12,000 years ago. This chronology thus places the establishment of the science of astronomy well before the building of the Great Pyramid. To be precise in the dating, however, one should realize that the rate of precession of the equinoxes changes over the larger epochs of time. We thus realize that Asuramaya was truly an astronomer of the Atlantean epoch.

What did these ancients know of the skies? The figures must be examined carefully and compared with "modern" knowledge. To do so we will explore the subtleties of the Hindu cycles of time.

The smallest basic unit of time in the writing is called a respiration. Aside from the obvious correspondence to the length of a human breath, four seconds is very precisely one minute of arc of the apparent revolution of the sun about the earth during a day. If one considers a half breath (inbreath or out breath) this is 1/43,200 of a day. The digits in this figure appear elsewhere in the Hindu chronology, but it is more surprising that this is also one of the most important ratios employed in the design of the Great Pyramid. As first pointed out by William Fix, the circumference of the pyramid corresponds to 1/43,200th of the circumference of the earth, and its height to 1/43,200th of the polar radius. Thus in a way the Great Pyramid incorporates a scale model of the dimensions of the Earth. What is truly amazing is that these figures take into account the flattening of the earth as well, and have not been matched until the last few decades when satellite measurements of these dimensions were made. It also may be that the fraction of the day in a breath was used in engineering this scale.

In building Hindu cycles from the basic unit of time, the respiration, Surya's disciple, Cuzco, points out that "six respirations make a vinadi, sixty of these a vinadi, and sixty nadis make a sidereal day and night." Realizing that a full day is 360 degrees of Earth rotation, that makes a nadi 6 degrees, and a vinadi 1/10th of a degree. From there on, the months correspond to the sun entering one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, and thus twelve months make a year.

However, a year is also called "a day of the gods". This makes a year of the gods correspond to 360 Earth years. A possible reason for the choice of 360 rather than 365.25 is that the ancient year used to contain only 360 days, with an extra month added in every 5 years. Although one could speculate that the 360 figure was taken from the number of degrees in a circle, we have no evidence as to which came first. The more important question is whether the text is referring to another more ancient cycle as Sri Yukteswar in his book, The Holy Science, points out. In the modern version of the Siddhanta 12,000 of the divine years are chosen as the Hindu cycle called the caturyuga, or Quadruple Age, but Yukteswar indicates that in human years this is half of the cycle of the precession of the equinoxes. Thus he claims the succession of the four ages in the Caturyuga to occur in 12,000 years rather than the 4,320,000 of the Surya Siddhanta. Whether or not this cycle is related to the precession or a stellar orbit, it is a cycle all its own, to which men on Earth relate, and thus a 12,000 year caturyuga is possible. But what of its corresponding cycle, which is the equivalent in human years: 4,320,000? (By the way, here are our old friendly digits, 432.) Is this figure there only because it is 1/1000th of a Kalpa, or is it needed to correspond to 12,000 years of the gods; is it the period of revolution of the sun about its dual star, or is there another meaning? In the Siddhanta, the figure is related to a weak conjunction of the planets in Piscium which occurred in 3102 BC, (the purported date of Krishna's death), and is said to time the recurrence of the conjunction including the lunar nodes.

Continuing our study of ever larger cycles, 71 Caturyugas are called a Manvantara, said to correspond to the reigns of the Manus (or fathers) of the races of man. This period in human years (we will ignore divine years from here on) is 308,448,000. It is perhaps more than coincidental that modern astronomy describes the period of revolution of the sun about the center of the galaxy to be anywhere from 220 to 270 million years. If the Hindu and modern cycle are related, the life cycles of earth were known by the ancients to be directly related to the cycle of the sun around the galaxy. Thus it might be proper to call the Manvantara the Galactic Year, with its corresponding seasons. It is further enlightening to note that the geologic and biologic ages of history often correspond to multiples and quarter multiples of this cycle, reminiscent of the 4 seasons of life experienced on Earth (see chart).

Fourteen Manvantaras, or Galactic Years, are called a Kalpa (Eon). The length of years corresponding to 4,320,000,000. This figure is multiply significant in modern science. The foremost relation is seen when it is noted that the writer calls the Kalpa the "day of Brahma", requiring a night of Brahma of equal length. Double this figure is 8,640,000,000. This is, give or take a half a billion years, the lifetime of our sun, a typical star, calculated using our 20th century knowledge of nuclear fusion. It is said in the text that this brings about "the destruction of all that is", and well it might be said of Earth itself during the life period of its associated star. It is easy to call matching figures a coincidence, but when the exact meaning of the cycle matches as well, we must say that either the writer of the text had access to the results of nuclear physics, or had spiritual attunement with a being who could provide them. Also the fact that other ancient Hindu texts call this cycle the "solar" Manvantara makes attempts to call this mere coincidence even more ludicrous.

Thus a case can be made for the cyclic and astronomical significance of both human and divine years to the evolution of the creation. The divine years relate to the precession of the equinoxes, and the human to the solar year.

At this point a word must be said about the challenges to the claimed antiquity of the document we are considering. Bentley, in the early 1800's made the claim that the Surya Siddhanta was written in the 11th Century AD, pointing out that the errors in the modern positions of the planets converged to the actual positions by use of the system in the Siddhanta at that time. E. Burgess refuted such a date by demonstrating that Bentley had neglected the error in the sun's position, and noted that this made the date more like 250 AD (give or take about 450 years). However, evidence that Hindu Astronomy predated Greek is voluminous (see Bailly and Whitney). In fact, one is inclined to believe that though the Surya Siddhanta has been subjected to minor modifications over the centuries it has come to us from a very ancient source.

The Kalpa of 4,320,000,000 years has another important significance. It is of course, almost exactly the length of time the Earth is assumed to have been in existence, using radioactive dating.

However, this is a mere coincidence, since the text points out that only 6 Manvantaras and 27 Caturyugas have passed since the beginning of this Kalpa. This totals nearly a mere 2 Billion years since creation began, a fact which is claimed in the monologue. This is remarkably close to the length of time life of some form has been on Earth, the earliest bacteria being clocked out at a little more than 2 Billion years ago.

According to the Brahma Siddhanta, the Kalpa is also the length of time it takes for a close alignment of the planets in the first point of the Hindu celestial sphere ( Piscium) to reoccur. This gives the picture of a solar system clock with seven hands (the planets) counting out the lifetime of the living forms on their worlds. Obviously the explanation of such things by modern science is completely missing, as is the true reason for the physical spacing of the planets known as Bode's Law (see any "modern" astronomy text), although the mysterious digits 4, 3, and 2 occur in a mathematical formulation of it. Pythagoras made much of these numbers in his formulation of the tetractys.

It should be noted that the ancient Yoga Vasistha indicates that this cycle is at different points for different systems of worlds, which again ties the Kalpa or day of Brahma to the lifetime of stars.

The Surya Siddhanta goes on to say of Brahma: "his extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night." Thus the length of Brahma's life is 864,000,000,000 divine years or 311,040,000,000,000 solar years. By extrapolation, this figure must have something to do with the cosmological expansion, if we now have faith in Hindu cycle-ology. However, here modern cosmology does not agree: a mere 20 Billion years is the maximum time the universe has been around in Big Bang parlance. Nevertheless, science suffers at present from a lack of a cosmology to fit all of the facts, and is very much adrift. Inflationary theories, thought up to save the Big Bang, cannot produce a mass as large as the "Great Attractor" which is postulated to exist behind the dust in the Milky Way in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. Galaxies are moving as if in the presence of a galaxy or mass vastly larger than any observed, and yet rendered invisible because our position in our own dusty galaxy. Is this the Great Central Sun of occult lore? If so, how did all the galaxies come into being, and what relationship do they have to such a large galaxy? Perhaps the understanding of what scientists call "white holes" for lack of a better term, would bring this larger cycle and thus the "Great Attractor" into clearer focus.

"As above, so below." The intonation of Hermes makes clear that even the lifetime of Brahma is in reality an outbreath, followed by an inbreath. Is the outbreath a creative appearance and expansion from a monstrous white hole of the very God of the Universe, and what regulates when the inbreath of that God will withdraw all substance behind the veil of space and time?

The Siddhanta also gives us a value of the size of the "Brahma-egg". When the researcher uses the value of the Hindu measure, the yojana, given in the text as a certain fraction of the radius of the Earth, he gets the circumference of the 'egg' to be about 10,000 light years, which is very close to that of the spheroidal core of our beloved Milky Way. As this shell is supposed to rotate in a Kalpa, we thus have another description of the 4,320,000,000 year cycle.

16. ASTRONOMY AND THE UNKNOWN

Like the two sides of the brain, I guess I have always had two sides to me. One of them ended up being an astronomy instructor and physicist and the other a professional astrologer and occult enthusiast. Some of my scientist friends have thought these pursuits to be contradictory and self-defeating. Thus I have found it convenient, at times, to hide my intuitive side. Nevertheless, there comes a time in human (and personal) history when the intuitive side (like woman) breaks free and asserts her right to be herself.

This book is my attempt at liberating the side of me that knows there is more to life than meets the 'scientific eye'. It is unification of the intuitive and logical sides of ourselves I think we all seek--either overtly or covertly, and for this to occur, each side must be free to express itself.

My seeking is a seeking for truth, something which I feel I have never found solely by scientific, or solely by spiritual means. I have found scientific defects in almost every occult system I have studied, defects which the followers of these systems could not explain to my satisfaction, sometimes indicating, 'if you knew more you would understand'. My response to that now is, 'if you knew more you could teach me'. On the other hand, I have often felt that an accepted scientific concept was not correct, a line of approach to understanding mysterious observations or results misleading or 'spiritually unworthy', as Francis Bacon might have said.

In this chapter you will confront the great mysteries of astronomy, but from a perspective which has not yet been put into print: that of a sojourner in time and space who longs for his home beyond, and sees no crime in talking of scientific theories in terms of their intuitive and spiritual validity. After all, such taboos are merely falling remnants of the male-dominated, scientific, logical society we are supposedly trying to transcend. Because I believe that human representations of the spiritual reality all have defects, I will not takes sides with any particular viewpoint in spiritual matters, but rather embrace what to me rings true in many faiths, creeds, and histories.

More than anything else, the 'unknown' motivated ancient astronomers and astrologers to interpret order into the heavenly chronology. Why should the heavenly bodies be involved in such lengthy cycles? Did those cycles which measure the lives of men have their analogues in those which measure the lives of the gods? Did one cycle mirror another? These were the questions asked, at least in principle, by the ancient Hindu astronomers.

Their answers diverged from those of the 'Sumerians become Babylonians'. For the Babylonians, the cycles measuring the lives of men were astrological and of prime importance, as if men were gods. They watched the parallels between events in the sky and events in the lives of kings and men.

The Hindus claimed that their system of the grander cycles was explained by their ancient and cosmic gurus: those who removed ignorance by imparting direct knowledge of the sky. The Surya Siddhanta claims that the god Surya of the sun (or Sirius?) imparted this knowledge to Asuramaya, a figure who some occult authors attribute to the civilization of Atlantis.

The Hindu quest for knowledge of all cycles probably predated the appearance of Sumerian astrology. Though it did not challenge the Babylonian form of astronomy directly, the two world views did conflict. The Hindu appreciated the unknown, whereas the 'Nephilim' (a biblical term), who imparted their civilization to the Sumerians, denied it, rendering human events predictable by pseudoscience of fate rather than prophecy.

The Sumerian, Nephilim philosophy dissected nature into lifeless parts, resulting in Democritus and the atom, while the Hindu philosophy affirmed life and the unknown by describing 'laya centers', in which energy flows from higher spiritual realms and into the physical universe, and back again.

This living nature of space and matter has been somewhat recaptured by the modern scientific concepts of the black and white hole, although even that is done from an atomic, materialistic viewpoint. Wormholes connecting black and white holes must in the rigid scientific view connect from one region of physical space-time to another. Wormholes do not reflect or connect to a whole, they are only a part of it.

Why have we been stuck with a dead science brought to us by ancient 'fallen' astronauts from planet X? (See The Twelfth Planet by Zecariah Sitchin.) Is it because some of their numbers still reside with us and control that science to their advantage? I must speak from my own convictions, and from the prompting of those beyond in the illumined unknown.

And what of the 'lives of the stars', as Sagan calls them, do they rigidly follow the dictates of 'modern' nuclear physics? Certainly that physics is faulty. Witness the paltry numbers of neutrinos that reach us from the sun. Nuclear physics as we know it predicts nearly three times that amount. Will spiritual inhabitants of a solar system extend the life of their sun by drawing to it energy from planes beyond, which upholds the orb against the collapse ordained by its gravity?

As we seek immortality in a physical form, will we merit the immortality of our solar system? On this planet, the fascination with death as the wages of burdening sin only threatens to draw a people further into what Maitreya has called "Satanic initiations".

Perhaps we shorten the life of our sun, and yet there is hope. Some rise above, ever higher, the ascending ones worthy of the astronomy of a Narada or Asuramaya, worthy of the descending fire of the Gods of Sirius and the Galactic center, perhaps worthy of the Gods of the Virgo Supercluster or the Great Attractor (possibly the Great Central Sun of old).

PERSPECTIVES ON THE UNIVERSE

In a way, the universe is multifaceted, each facet representing a perspective, or way of viewing it. Copernicus', and earlier, Aristarchus' perspective placed the sun at the center of the universe. But we now know that that perspective is only one in a chain of discoveries that man's position in the universe is not unique. Galileo observed that other planets, i.e., Jupiter, are centers of other systems of worlds, some of which we now know are nearly as complex as the solar planetary system itself. Giordano Bruno lost his life for claiming that stars are suns and may have worlds in tow, as does our sun. Shapley indicated that we were not at the center of the clump of stars we call the Milky Way, and Curtiss confuted his claim that our galaxy is an 'island universe' by asserting the nebulae to be other galaxies of stars.

Einstein put the capstone to the edifice of perspectives by claiming any frame of reference to be valid, and that valid frames of reference may be moving with respect to each other. Nevertheless, there appears to be one unique perspective, a frame of reference which expands with the ever-separating galaxies.

This unique perspective makes us wonder whether all that happens inside the expanding universe is not in some way related to this 'grand view'. Fred Hoyle notes that even the expansion of the universe disappears in such a god-like way of seeing things. Rather, it is left to atoms to continually contract in such a picture.

The modern theory of Superstrings leads us to speculate that the universe we know and love may be the mere shriveled husk of a former, much grander universe of 10, 28, or more dimensions, the extra dimensions having curled up in their old age.

The Gauge Theory of physics asserts that characteristics of all types may be built into the quantum wave function by adding dimensions beyond space and time infinitum. This leaves metaphysical speculation wide open.

The panorama of ways of looking at the universe is probably as endless as Arjuna's Krishna-granted vision. Certainly not well understood is how consciousness relates to the physical universe we see. Proofs of paranormal events abound, yet we do not know what makes 'miracles' work. Is it the very nature of the interface of consciousness with the brain? Some scientists are beginning to suggest that it is. Is the freedom allowed by quantum theory necessary for the working out of karma for large objects like ourselves? These questions remain unanswered enigmas for the twenty first and perhaps twenty second centuries, the cuspal centuries (astrologically speaking) for the transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age.

BEGINNING AT THE BEGINNING

Inherited discrepancies from cosmic patterns are only a fraction of our dilemma on earth. We must buck the soothsayers and prophets of doom who intend to reflect their own well-understood end onto the planet we know and love. We are under the grips of their Psi-ence which is the product of a man conceived to be without God.

Black holes, wormholes, topless and bottomless quarks--the intended beauty has been denigrated by names provided by worldly laggards. Can it be restored? Only by determined effort, and a new up-sweeping spiritual direction to our science.

Bacon knew, and we forgot, that our explorations create the universe. It is indeed our alchemy project. Consider the creation of baby universes by cosmic tunnels and subsidiary balloons, born of the quantum foam and its uncertainty. Universes appended to universes.

The mother becomes pregnant--her belly expands. Our universe too was once a baby, a mere fluctuation of the plenum of time and space. Instead of wormholes, speak of umbelical chords, which at appropriate times pinch off, severing the connection between mother and child. Psychically the mother is connected to the child, however, as our universe is attuned to many others, when we part the veil of ignorance.

In another sense, God did not play dice with the universe: he gave it a bubble bath, each separate bubble, another world, another monad. This is parthenogenic reproduction, perhaps, were it not for the seeding of the womb of space and time with matter and energy.

The conservation of energy itself says that this energy is in its bound form--matter--come from space.